Standard of RT in USA

[WillowRun 6-3]

deefer dg, I'm glad you asked

This was your thread, deefer dog. So first of all, even if I ultimately fail, even fail miserably, to fulfill my main objective - which is to stimulate more relevant discussion (by posing questions and making some observations) - I really do hope you see that I am trying, in a sense to contribute, to the discourse. Even if you don't see that, for whatever reason, it is nevertheless the truth.

Second let's get something straight here. I "am on" nothing and did not have any too many. In fact the only thing I was on last night was a barstool in a Tilted Kilt and I nursed one brew (a craft, not swill) through most of the last NFL game (49ers v someone, who cares?).

With these preliminaries out of the way, let's get to the two most important points. Start with ICAO.

If your contention is correct, that is, if it is true that (a) U.S. ATC deviates from ICAO standard in non-trivial ways, and (b) this is a bad thing, then why is it so hard for the assemblage on this thread to discuss what to do about it? Your premise in the OP and reiterated by you and others is that (I'm paraphrasing) "HEY U.S., you signed an international convention. One that has its roots in the Chicago Convention of 1944, in fact. Yet you persist, U.S., in deviating from the requirements of the ICAO SARPS and Documents and Annexes where standard R/T is concerned. STRAIGHTEN UP U.S. and stop using anything but approved ICAO R/T." Now, deefer dog, I'm sure, quite sure, you would prefer that all the aviators and ATCOs in the U.S. just got the message like a flash of brilliance and suddenly Standardisation reigned over the skies. But seeing as how that is not likely to happen.....the proposition (the end of my prior post) is this: if you are convinced Standardisation of R/T so as to conform literally or substantially with all ICAO forms and procedures is necessary, well, there's a big ICAO triennial meeting this fall, dd. The agenda and all the working papers and the petty bureaucratic trappings of supposedly doing something all are there for anyone to see. I didn't see anything about R/T Standardisation, though. And Ace Rimmer's post says, in effect, 'forget ICAO processes, they take too long, like seven years.' So, rather than take some initiative to bring this matter to ICAO's triennial meeting, even if only "new business from the floor", you (in the sense of those who advocate for the U.S. being required to comply) are doing what? Or will you be at the Triennial to advocate for action on this matter? Money talks, writing-style criticism walks.

Now, as to the underlying premise - do I agree that R/T standardisation must be enforced in the U.S. and elsewhere? I don't know, deefer dog. Four Hundred and Forty-Six posts in, and there's plenty of chest-thumping, and plenty of "mostly saying hooray for our side" - but nothing I could see as definitive. I read the Tenerife report soon after it became available publicly. But that wasn't a case of just non-standard, that was a case of galactic carelessness combined with stupidity. I posited two scenarios. (The first, another urgent ground stop due to some horrible incident or problem, and the second, an escalation involving armed services of one or more countries in the situation in Syria.). Since the assemblage on this thread cannot seem to develop consensus around whether the lack of standardisation actually is a detriment to safety or efficiency, my intention was to shift the context to a couple of realistic scenarios and see whether the case would apply there. As in, 'oh yes, if ICAO standardisation were in place, and there were another urgent ground stop, for sure, it would go much better.' Or, 'no, if the Syrians fly any MiGs out of their airspace and a commercial flight is anywhere close by, the last thing anyone needs to be concerned about is whether the R/T is read from the ICAO script.' It's a discussion board, correct?

As for matters of style, the role of obfuscation in persuasion, the structure of arguments (legal as well as rhetorical), and assorted other left-overs, well, I'm pretty sure no one cares, or is interested. But I don't mind at all being held accountable - trust me, I'm a lawyer.